Reviews - Stardust Family | The StoryGraph

53 reviews for:

Stardust Family

Aki Poroyama

4.54 AVERAGE

chaoticbooklover's review against another edition

5.0

emotional lighthearted reflective

m560's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

"The government... ...declared providing for children would require a license."

Stardust Family features a world where parents need to obtain a caregiver license to be able to have and take care of (even their own) children. Hikari, a young boy, is one of the inspectors sent to prospective parents to test their aptitude. One day he gets sent to Daiki and Chisa's home for inspection, where Daiki oddly requests Hikari to fail them as parents.

"I want you... ...to fail the both of us as caregivers."

This manga is absolutely amazing. It's been a good while since I've read a manga that managed to enthrall me like Stardust Family did. This story is a profound exploration of parenthood and what it means to be a family. It also features social commentary that is very relevant to our society today.

"Society begins from the family... ...and the family begins from people. As such, to build a better society... ...we must start by building better families. Better humans."

Poroyama has a wonderful art style that perfectly supports the full emotional breadth covered in the manga. Hard hitting and heart-wrenching at times, but overall it features a wonderfully hopeful message. Dialogue can be a bit hit or miss in manga, especially as it's translated, but Poroyama easily weaves the story from emotionally drenched moments to comedic relief. Accompanied by perfect pacing, this manga is a stellar example of what a good story needs to be.

"Children are people... ...not a shortcut to happiness or self-actualization."

Stardust Family is a stand-out in the world of manga. It tells a unique, perfectly paced story with loveable characters and memorable dialogue. I would recommend this manga to people who love dystopian stories featuring pertinent social commentary.

Thank you Aki Poroyama and Yen Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

aberman's review against another edition

4.5

Loveable characters: Yes

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

I loved this book. From the first page to the last I sometimes felt like I was holding my breath (don't worry, I knew I was holding it). Set in a dystopian future where adults must apply to be parents by having children come to evaluate their suitability, this is a heartwarming story (with a fun twist) that will have you rooting for both the parents applying and the kid who is evaluating them.

sagareads's review

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

katharine_opal's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

When I went into this, I had no idea what to expect. The world of "Stardust Family" presents itself as a utopia, while also being incredibly dystopian underneath its shiny veneer. Due to a national law, the only people who are allowed to have children of their own, be they biological or adopted, are those who have passed the state-sanctioned "caregiver test". Once a person or couple receives their caregiver certification, they are free to have children of their own. The logic of this certification is to reduce the amount of child abuse that happens, because "only the good people can have children". Unfortunately, this test has another side effect, where people who fail the test find that their social standing is dramatically reduced. People who fail are considered to be bad people, because "only bad people would fail at a caregiver test". I wish that the story had delved a bit deeper into the societal implications of this law, as there are multiple flaws to it. There has been a lot of talk in online spaces about having a test to prove that someone is "worthy" to be a parent. But instead, the story focuses on Hikari and his life as an examiner. Hikari is a rather mysterious child, apparently an orphan who is a ward of the state and trained from childhood to become a state-employed "Examiner". But, the newest couple that Hikari has to shadow defied all expectations, and slowly helps him learn more about himself and perhaps the world.. I can't go too deeply into this plot point, because it would spoil so much. But I was so surprised by this story! There were several moments that I did NOT see coming, and honestly, just elevated the mystery for me. The ending the story felt a bit abrupt, and I'm kinda sad that's how it ended. But this was honestly a fantastic story, and I think it would translate very well as an anime or live-action series.

The one thing I didn't like is that Chisa's mother is revealed to not have passed the caregiver test. It reinforces the idea that "anyone who fails the caregiver test is a horrible person". I think it would have been a stronger and more shocking choice to have had Chisa's mother be someone who passed the caregiver test, but then murdered her son anyway. I'm sure there are people who made wonderful parents, only for something to happen down the line and change them into a bad one. The debate online about there being a test you have to pass in order to become a parent is widely regarded as fascist. The manga doesn't even hint at this debate, but I get it; that's not the primary focus.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Content Warnings

the_book_wyrms_hoard's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

In a world where parents must be licensed to have children Hikari is an "inspector" a parentless child employed by the Japanese government to ensure that prospective parents are emotionally ready to take on the responsibility of being parents, a job he his beginning to hate. However, one day, he meets Daiki Hirokawa, who asks him the unthinkable: To fail him and his wife, Chisa.

Did I cry in an airport when I got to the end of this? Yes, yes, I did, and I don't care. This was an emotional roller coaster that asks not only what truly makes a good parent but what truly makes a loving family. As a parent, this is a question that is consistently at the forefront of my mind. But, if you've ever talked to anyone that's been in the Foster system, Hikari's story is just absolutely heartbreaking. As an inspector Hikari goes through countless potential families that always tell him that they love him, they spoil him, they make him apart of their existence for two weeks at a time and then at the end for them it's like it never even happened. For Hikari, it's just another wound on an already ravaged heart. To be have that level of psychological and emotional damage is heartbreaking, to know that it actually is happening right now to children in a broken foster system? Next level heartbreaking.

Chisa herself has her own sad background story except in her case when she enters the "system" she ends up with an uncle that truly loves her and helps her to come to terms with the trauma her mother inflicted upon her and how the world sees her because of this. And of course Daiki does as well, having parents who excell at everything and expect him to do the same when all he really just wants to be is a kid.

Each of these characters brings a relatable trauma to a family that is certainly not perfect under any circumstances but in the short two weeks that Hikari is with them you see a "broken" family become whole because of the trust and love that they have in each other and it is beyond beautiful. I genuinely cannot recommend this one more.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for the eArc!

magenta_menace's review against another edition

3.25

thanks to netgalley and yen press for an arc of this title! this was a really interesting story. the concept of the investigators was very original, but i couldn’t help but feel like it was a little bit shallow in terms of plot. i did like the characters, though, and was hoping to hear more about their lore. without spoiling too much, i did really appreciate the ending of this one in terms of the whole story.

henli's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

olipop607's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

willowmae's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Thank you Netgalley, all opinions are my own

Wow this book wrecked me, I was thinking it was going to be a lot darker than it was, it was still pretty dark tho, a sci fi manga with a deeper look on utopia and family, very emotional

Content Warnings

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